The Drop is one of those movies where you are waiting for a particular event to happen throughout the length of the movie. The make or break in movies like these is that event in the end. I believe this movie delivers the event quite well. It is not too much suspense because you are constantly waiting for something big to happen. Here’s the plot and ending of The Drop explained; spoilers ahead.
The Drop features Tom Hardy (from Mad Max : Fury Road) as Bob, James Gandolfini (from the Sopranos) as Marv, and Noomi Rapace (from Prometheus) as Nadia. Bob and Marv are cousins who run a Bar. The Bar is run as a mobster Drop location. Basically, gang members come here to make payment drops which are given to the Chechens. It is indicated that Marv once used to be more than someone who runs a bar for a mob leader. The bar gets robbed one night and the head of the mob gang tells Bob and Marv to get his money back.
Nadia is a girl who happens to meet Bob when he finds a pup in a garbage can. They bond over the busted up dog. Deeds, a local thug, comes back to Bob claiming ownership of the dog. He’s a self-claimed badass who’s committed a murder of a guy called Richie 10 years ago. Deeds becomes a constant source of irritation for Bob and Nadia.
There is a detective who is trying to solve the mob network and identify who’s been responsible for what. This is not the kind of movie that involves much action around the events. It is mostly a drama and scenes have a sense of peace to them. The movie ends well, without too much drama around the climax. The actual events are given out in the form of dialogues tying up the ends of the story. Tom Hardy has done a neat job and is somehow able to pull off different accents in each of his movies. James and Noomi are great as well.
The Drop: Plot And Ending Explained
Marv was once a big man, a loan shark and Bob was his muscle. He ends up in debt and has to eventually succumb to running the bar for the mob. Richie was the one who puts Marv in debt. In the end Bob discloses that Deeds was in psycho ward at the time Richie was killed; that Deeds didn’t kill Richie and Bob did. Marv didn’t want his payment of debt disclosed and gets Bob to kill Richie once Richie paid them off. This way they didn’t have to pay off anyone else. The apparent debt of Marv is what makes him run the bar for the mob.
The two people who rob the bar are set up by Marv. Marv tries to use this tactic to make money of the mobs. The broken watch that Bob notices, however, could easily lead it back to Marv. Marv gets the robber killed and dumps his hand and the money in their garbage can.
The mob leader suspects Marv’s hand in the bar robbery. They get someone to tail Marv and also declare the bar to be The Drop for the day of the Super Bowl. Bob too suspects Marv to be doing something fishy and hence asks him if Marv is doing something they can’t recover from (the earlier event being Richie). Marv says everything was fine.
Marv talks to the surviving robber and plans the second hit on the bar for the night of the Super Bowl. The robber wants no part in it fearing for his life, so Marv kills him by driving over him. Deeds is a local thug. He’s just claimed to have murdered Richie to get him brownie points in the thug world. He’s the ex-owner of the pup and he used to beat it up. He’s the ex-boyfriend of Nadia and he used to beat her up. You know this guy’s is going to get it in the end. Marv makes a deal with Deeds to rob the bar on the night of the Super Bowl.
The mobs suspect Marv and send a guy to assassinate him. Deeds initially explains to Bob how he would let Bob keep the dog for $10,000. He drags Nadia to the bar to rob it. When Bob was going to pay Deeds, Deeds discloses that $10,000 wouldn’t be enough for both the dog and Nadia. Deeds instructs Bob to open the safe and give out all the money from the day’s drops. Bob is very cool and composed and explains to Deeds how he knows about the psycho ward. Bob also goes on to tell Deeds that it was he who kills Richie and dumps the body in the coil heater. Before Deeds can react, Bob pulls out his gun and shoots Deeds in the face! Nadia is left standing stunned. Bob explains to Nadia how people like Deeds never go away, they keep coming back for more and that Nadia was free to go home.
The mob gang figure that Bob had nothing to do with the robbery and that was all Marv. They gift the bar to Bob after killing of Marv. The detective comes around later to Bob. He too has figured out that Deeds couldn’t have killed Richie because Deeds was in a psycho ward. But the detective has no evidence against Bob and can do nothing. Bob swings past Nadia’s to see if she would like to stay away from him. Nadia realizes that Bob ain’t too bad, he only shoots assholes in the face and takes a walk with him instead.
Barry is a technologist who helps start-ups build successful products. His love for movies and production has led him to write his well-received film explanation and analysis articles to help everyone appreciate the films better. He’s regularly available for a chat conversation on his website and consults on storyboarding from time to time.
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